In Vane
by SincerestApple
Summary: Severus is trying to escape from a crazed Gryffindor hell bent on making him her husband. The only problem is that the one person who can help him escape is the last person he wishes to be near.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters that the lovely J.K. Rowling has created for us.

This is my first fanfiction. If you like it great, if you see a problem tell me, and if you hate it I respect that. Hope you like it.

Severus Snape was angry. No, scratch that, Severus Snape was furious. How the hell did he find himself in a situation far worse than his servitude between the Dark Lord and Albus Dumbledore? What unspeakable acts had he committed to deserve this horrible fate? Who did he kill to deserve this small hell on Earth? What first year had he made wet his pants to deserve this nightmare!? Severus had no clue, for he must have done something unspeakable to constantly be on guard to a fate worse than death. It was not even six hours ago that he had escaped once again, from France for crying out loud, to the small sanctuary of his beloved dungeons at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and finally bite the bullet (as the Muggles say) and write to the last person he ever wanted to be in contact with and ask for help. It was bad enough that he was in this situation, it made it even worse that he now had to...

"Hello Godfather. Broading I see."

"Draco, I see you received my letter."

"Yes. It was rather surprising to read that you needed my help in, how did you put it, 'A delicate situation far worse then the bowels of hell itself'.", Draco said with a grin.

Severus steepled his fingers and closed his eyes trying to draw every ounce of strength he had to try not to hex the boy in front of him. He needed the boy alive and conscious for that matter so a plan could be formulated to rid himself of his rather maddening problem. The Potions Master slowly opened his eyes and looked at the boy in front of him. Draco had grown to be almost the spitting image of his Father. Though the time of servitude to the Dark Lord had left a slightly haunted look in the boy, no he corrected himself, young man's eyes, he still held himself in a proud stance just like his Father and carried himself with the same elegance and dangerous grace the Malfoy's were so well known for.

"Draco, I will only warn you once, wipe that silly grin off your face before I hex you into the next century! The situation I find myself in is no laughing matter. It is a fate I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy, well maybe James Potter and Sirius Black, but not anyone else!"

Draco let out a low whistle. For the calm Potion Masters to be that up in arms it had to be an extreme situation. Severus Snape never lost his cool, even during the Dark Lords second rise Snape carried himself with a constant level head that only a master spy could hold. To see such a calm man fluster and at his wits end was disturbing.

"What is it you need from me Godfather?"

"For now we must wait. You are not the only person I have written to requesting for help. I don't know when she will be along, but hopefully it will be soon. Not that I gave her much choice when I wrote to her superiors requesting her immediate assisstance."

"Who are you-" That was all Draco was able to say before the door to Severus Snape's classroom slammed open and a very angry Hermione Granger stormed in slamming the door behind her causing the very frame to shake.

"Severus Snape! Explain yourself! Why the hell was I ordered here by the head of my department to help your sorry arse!? You have some nerve demanding my assisstance, especially after your smart mouth caused me to be put under investigation by not only the Ministry of Magic, but the damn Potions Board as well!"

"Miss Granger, calm yourself!"

"Calm? You want me to calm myself after my boss all but demanded I come here and offer my 'gracious assistance' to the man that made my life a living hell for six months. Thanks to you I was put under investigation because you decided to be a bastard by telling not only my boss, but the entire Potioneers Committee that it was a miracle that a walking text book such as myself was capable of not only having independent thought, but also an original idea to create such a ground breaking potion! If it wasn't for the small miracle that I recorded everything during my research and Veritaserum my potion would have been stolen by three seperate individuals who claimed that I was the one who stole their idea on the Wolfbane Extension Potion!"

"I clearly remember sending a letter of apology and explanation to both the Ministry and the Board about the matter."

"Only after Minerva threatened to transfigure you into a red and gold fluffy teddy bear and pass you around to all the lonely first year Gryffindors!"

Draco couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of his Godfather being tranfigured into a teddy bear, much less a red and gold one to boot. Clearing his throat to the fighting duo, he couldn't help but ask, "Not that I want to interupt this very interesting fight, but what exactly is the Wolfbane Extension Potion? I've never heard of it."

Hermione Granger out of habit was the first to answer. "The Wolfbane Extension Potion is a creation of mine designed for people to stay, I guess you can say more humanlike during their transformation during the full moon."

"Isn't that what regular Wolfbane does?"

Before Hermione was able to answer Severus was the next to respond. "It is true that Wolfbane does help an individual keep their mind during the werewolf transformation, however that is all it can do. To put it blankly, you are putting a human mind into a crazed animal with only limited control. The control only being the ability of restraining the creature. Miss Granger's potion offers the individual not only complete mental control, but physical control as well. Witches and Wizards with Lycanthropy would not only have the ability to keep themselves from turning into a raving monster but also be able to utilize their curse to help others as well. Miss Granger's potion is still undergoing further testing, but once its existence is released to the general public it will also help open jobs to I believe a specialized section in the Auror Department."

"You almost sound impressed Snape. If it wasn't for the fact that I know how much of a hateful bastard you really can be I would almost take your explanation as a compliment."

"Miss Granger, if it wasn't for the fact that I am in dire need of your assistance I would do the Wizarding World a favor and permantly seal that fact spouting mouth of yours. As it is, you possess important imformation that I am in need of and must, unfortunately, let you retain the ability to speak."

After the declaration, Granger could not help but stare at him, wondering what the hell type of information that she had that Snape needed. As if the Gods were listening to her question the very answer to it swiftly came into the room.

"Severus Tobias Snape, where have you been!? I thought we agreed after our vacation in France that we would visit my Mother. She is so looking...Oh, am I interupting something?"

It was at that point that the three occupants in the room stared in complete shock at the newest arrival. Malfoy and Granger could not help but be puzzled at the person who was now standing in the doorway of the potions class while Severus Snape couldn't help but groan. 'How the hell did she find me again? I was sure I covered my tracks well and made sure I had no tracking spell or charms on me. She's like a damn bloodhound!'

Romilda Vane stood in the door way taking in the scene in front of her. It had taken her awhile to find her beloved after he left their flat in Paris and was happy to see that her assumptions were right. He had abruptly left during their shopping trip through Wizarding Paris and left no message as to his whereabouts with the clerk at the shop or at their flat. She figured that he had an important meeting of some sort with either the Minister or someone important and was all to happy to charge a few new robes to his vault to make up for his absence. She knew that she wasn't supposed to use his vaults at the moment, after all they were only dating, but it was only a matter of time before they would take the obvious step and she would be the wife of the dark war hero and be forever known as the one who was able to win the unobtainable heart of Severus Snape and replace the eternal beauty of Lily Potter. It was a lovely dream, one of which she had worked hard to obtain and she was happy to see her careful planning was working out. That was until her eyes fell on Hermione Granger.

Romilda eyes narrowed. "Granger, what are you doing here?"

Hermione took in the scene before her. At first she had been completely baffled as to why Romilda Vane had made a sudden appearance, but after she had caught on to what Vane had said it didn't take a genius to figure out the situation at hand. 'Oh, this is too good. Serves the bastard right. I should be sorry for him and help him, but I think a little payback is in order.' A huge crocodile grin spread across her face and a plan quickly formed.

Severus watched the address Vane had given Granger and knew that the information he had gained about the two had held true. Now all he needed to do was rid himself once again from his problem and gain the information he needed from Miss Granger. He was quickly pulled from his musing when he saw the grin that Granger was giving him and knew something horrible was about to happen. Severus needed an excuse and he needed an excuse quickly before-

"Romilda, I am so glad you're here." Granger said with a grin.

"You are?", Romilda couldn't help but be puzzled with this response. It was all too obvious amongst the Gryffindors that the two of them hated one another, especially after a certain incident that still made her blood boil. She just hoped that Granger wasn't going to interfere in her life again. She deserved her Dark Prince and she was going to get him.

"Oh yes! You see Snape called Malfoy and I to help give him some ideas on certain pieces of jewelry. He said that he wanted it befitting for a Malfoy while at the same time held a Gryffindor touch. I honestly don't know why I was chosen for this task and was just about to recommend Parvati Patil since she does co-own that popular dress robe shop 'Divinely Yours', but I'm glad to see he invited you as well. You know me, I'm the Bookworm of Gryffindor, not the Beauty of Gryffindor." Hermione quickly turned to Snape, her grin widdening at the obvious look of distress and anger. "Professor, you really should ask Romilda on what design you should choose for a ring. I bet she has plenty ideas."

With those last words, Hermione quickly caught a final glimpse at Romilda's dreamy look, Draco's clueless look, and Snape's look of pure rage. With a smile she quickly walked out the door and closed it. Once the door closed with a resounding click Hermione didn't look back and ran as fast as she could back to the Headmistress's Office where her friends were waiting for her. She was clearing the first floor when she heard Snape roar, "GRANGER!" and quickly picked up the pace. As she cleared the second floor Harry and Ron came into view casually talking as they walked along. When they caught sight of her they both gave her a curious look. All she did was scream "RUN" and they knew that whatever it was that had her running they better follow suit.

They quickly cleared the third floor when Harry shouted, "Why are we running? Voldemort coming after us again?"

"Worse! We're running from Vane and Snape. We need to get to Minerva's office and quick."

Ron turned to Hermione and paled, "Holy Hell! Hermione what did you do!?"

"Run first, escape second, and explain later."

As they came across to the gargoyle entrance, Hermione quickly shouted the password and ran passed the leaping gargoyle barely missing him and took the moving stairs two at a time. To say the Headmistress was shocked when the Golden Trio burst into her office was an understatement in and of itself. She immediately jumped up from her desk about to demand an answer when a roar interupted her. "GRANGER!" Concern came across her face. She knew that roar and watched in disbelief as Harry, Ron, and Hermione shoved themselves into her fireplace and quickly screamed, "THE BURROWS!" and disappear in the green flames. Not a moment later did her Potion Master burst through the door looking like dearranged animal and made his way towards the fireplace.

Quickly collecting herself the Headmistress screamed, "Severus Snape! What the blazes is going on around here!? Why are you chasing Hermione, Harry, and Ron?"

Professor Snape stopped in his place and gave the Headmistress his trademark scowl.

"I am not after Potter and Weasley. I only want Granger."

"What do you want with Hermione?"

"Other than to wring her neck out, I need information concerning a one Romilda Vane. Usually your precious cubs can't keep a secret to save their on neck, but it seems that any information about Miss Vane is a guarded secret amongst the Gryffindors. I even went as far as tracking down some of Miss Vane's old paramours. The moment her name was mention they either started crying, begging me to keep her away or ran away screaming. I was unable to gain any clear information other than the fact that she has destroyed anyone she has attached herself to. Do you know anything about Miss Vane, Minerva?

Minerva did indeed know a little bit about what he was talking about and she knew why Severus was unable to gain any answers from her Gryffindors. Romilda Vane was a closely guarded secret in her house. She had tried many of times to gain any information from her cubs concerning Miss Vane after she had caused one of Pomona's Hufflepuffs to suffer a nervous break down and was unable to gain any answers from them. She had threaten detention, suspension, and even threaten to hand them over to Severus and Argus if she did not get a straight answer. She finally gave up when one finally spoke and told her that they would gladly face Snape if it meant they were kept safe from Romilda. After that she gave up. She figured if Severus and Argus couldn't scare them, then nothing could other than Voldemort himself and he was thankfully dead.

Taking in Severus's appearance she noticed that the once cool man seemed dishelved and slightly dearranged. Could it be that Miss Vane was the cause of Severus's change of appearance? Seeing that he was still eyeing her, waiting for an answer she decided to take pity on the poor man and told him of her own experiences.

"I remember Miss Vane from her years here. However, she is quite the enigma when it comes to her experience with her past paramours. Do you remember a boy the name of Malcolm Preece?"

Severus had to dig deep in his memory, but was able to remember the boy. "Yes, I believe I do. Tall, medium build, dark hair, dark eyes, chaser for the Hufflepuff team?"

"Yes, that would be him. He took over as quididtch captain after, um, well you know. He was a year above Miss Vane and apparently became her beau sometime after the Christmas holiday during his seventh year. No one is sure what happened, but apparently sometime after Valentine's Day poor Mr Preece suffered a nervous breakdown. It was the strangest thing if you ask me. He was found in the Hufflepuff common room hunched over in a darken corner mumbling some nonsense about not being safe. At first we believed that one of Lord Voldemort followers had approached him about joining and had threatened him at every turn. But we later found out that Miss Vane was a constant presence to the young man's life, even in the confines of the Hufflepuff common room. We had questioned her whether or not they had been approached to join Voldemort's rank and she stated that no one had approached them being as that was impossible for they spent every waking moment together and were hardly around any of their peers. She was then asked if she knew what caused the poor man's breakdown and she simply shrugged her shoulders stating that they had broken up on Valentine's Day after he threw a fit about their plans.

I did question the other members of Gryffindor house and was met with nothing but silence. And before you ask, yes I did try everything to get a straight answer. I threatened detention, suspension, I even threatened to hand them over to you to decide their punishment. I gave up when one of my cubs stated that he would rather take his chances with you rather than to face Miss Vane. I gave up after that and decided to keep my ears open for any related gossip."

"Did you hearing anything?", Professor Snape said hopefully.

"Yes, come to think of it. Mind you I was only able to catch a few short phrases but I believe it does shed some light on what had happen. Although it doesn't completely answer why the entire Gryffindor.."

"Minerva! Stop your ramblings and tell me what you heard!"

"Well!", Minerva said in a huff, "If you must know I heard something to the effect of "Poor bloke", "Never stood a chance", and something about claws. That is all I heard and now can you please tell me why you are asking about Miss Vane? She graduated I believe five years ago."

Quickly, some of the missing answers were falling into place. Though he did not have an answer to his problem, he was beginning to get general idea of why he was met with either tears, running, and silence. Seeing Minerva's inquisitive look, Severus explained; "I will not go into the details of how I met Miss Vane, but I will inform you that for the past four months she has been a constant nightmare since the moment she entered my life!"

Minerva was shocked by her colleagues words. What could have Miss Vane done cause such disquiet in Severus's life?

"Severus", Minerva asked tentatively, "What has Miss Vane done?"

"Done!? You want to know what's she's done? I'll tell you what she has done! She has turned my entire life upside down since the moment she came into it and latched herself onto me. At first it started off slow with an owl once a week telling me about her week and so forth, then after a month it turned into a owl everyday sometimes even twice telling me how glad she was that "we" were in a committed relationship and could not wait for the school year to end. I wrote to her several times that I was 'Not' interested in her week nor was I in any relationship where it concerned her. However she didn't stop. She claimed that my scathing letters were nothing more than a test to prove her worthiness to me and that my little tests would not deter her love. To make matters worse two weeks before school ended I found her in my rooms, rearranging my private quarters!"

"Severus, how can that be? Your quarters are heavily warded."

"I know, that's the problem. When I asked how the hell she got into my private rooms all she told me was that she was making it more homely for whenever she moved in. I immediately kicked her out, but I found her in my rooms the next day and the next all resulting in the same manner of myself kicking her out. Finally I contacted the DMLE to see if I could charge her with stalking or trespassing. They said I needed substantial evidence in order to press stalking charges, but all Miss Vane would receive was a restraining order and community service. As for the trespassing charges, they claimed that only you had the ability to file the charges and ban her from the school grounds. After seeing my hard earned galleons at work with the mindless dunderheads they employ at the DMLE I decided to take matters into my own hands. You do not need to know the full details, all you need to know was it didn't work."

"Severus, what did you do?"

"I didn't harm her physically, I just leaked a certain story to the Daily Prophet is all."

Understanding came to Minerva. She remembered the news article concerning Romilda Vane. Although it was old news to the school, the general public was in a uproar when it was discovered that she tried to poison the Boy-Who-Lived with a love potion and steal him away from his one true love Ginny Weasley. It was rumored that she had to go into hiding after the many death threats she received from the public.

"You're responsible for the love potion article. That poor girl could have been killed from the uproar that it caused."

"Poor girl? Trust me Minerva when I say that Miss Vane is not a poor girl. She claimed that the article was nothing more than a test to prove her love for me and that she would hold strong. During her few weeks of exile she wrote me everyday about her love for me, plans for our future, and our supposedly upcoming wedding. They were far more disturbing then the Dark Lord himself. Thankfully I used her days in hiding to gather some information. As you know, I had a number of dead ends. However, I got lucky. A Gryffindor, surprisingly enough, took pity on me and told me that the only person Miss Vane never crossed was Miss Granger. When I pressed further, he got nervous and stated that if I wanted answers I needed to see her. At first I was angry and wanted nothing to do with the little know-it-all and decided to keep my diginity intact and left for summer vacation once the holidays started. I told no one of my location. She found me, in two short weeks she found me! She believed that my sudden trip to Paris was a secret rendezvous and thought I was finally showing my romantic side by having us vacation there. It only took a couple of days to flee from her, but thankfully I was able to. I came back here and decided to call upon Draco and Miss Granger for assistance."

"Miss Granger? Severus are you out of your mind!? After what you did to poor Hermione I'm not at all surprised now when she, Mr Potter, and Mr Weasley crammed themselves into my fireplace to floo their escape."

"Oh she will help me get out of this situation, even if I have to drag her all the way back to Hogwarts with that bushy mane of hers. Do you know what that little chit did? She actually had the nerve to give Miss Vane the impression that I was looking to buy an engagement ring. AN ENGAGEMENT RING! And before I could wrap my hands around her neck Miss Vane started spouting wedding ideas to me. As you can see I left Draco to deal with that mess, for all I know she is still down in the dungeons planning. I need to escape again. Do you know where Miss Granger could have gone?"

"I believe I will stay out of this one Severus."

"What! Why? Do you have any idea what hell I am going through right now? I am begging you Minerva tell me where Miss Granger has gone or so help me I will pitch myself off the Astronomy Tower."

"And you say Gryffindors are so dramatic."

"I am not being dramatic, I am flat out telling you the truth!"

Minerva took in Severus appearance in once again and could not help but feel sorry for the poor man. True, she had been angry at what he had done to her little cub, but at the same time she could not help but feel sorry for him. Finally taking pity on Severus and coming up with a pleasant revenge on her own she came to a decision.

"Alright Severus, I will tell you their floo destination, however you must do something for me in return."

"What is it?", the Potions Master said wearily.

"Do you remember some time back I practically begged you to attend the War Heros Ball to help generate future donors for our school?"

"Yes.", Severus drawled.

"Well, I want you to attend. With conditions. That you stay there til at least eleven o'clock and you are somewhat pleasant. I'm not asking for nice, just not your usual snarky self. And I will be there to monitor you so that I can make sure all the conditions have been met. And believe me when I say, if they are not all met there will be hell to pay. What do you say?"

"That's blackmail!"

"Yes, I know. Now choose Severus, I am a busy woman. You either attend the ball, hopefully a bachelor, find Miss Granger yourself, pitch yourself off the Astronomy Tower, or plan your wedding to Miss Vane. If it is the latter, might I suggest a winter wedding. I always believed snow to be a beautiful back drop to a traditional white wedding, that is if the bride is still pure or you wish to give the illusion. Either way it's still beautiful. And I believe gold and green will go well together. Maybe I should offer my assistance-"

"ALRIGHT I"LL GO! I'll go to your stupid ball, meet all the conditions just please give me the damn address!"

Minerva didn't even bother to the cheshire like grin spreading across her face.

"The trio flooed to the Burrows. However, I do not believe you will find them there so it will be best to either wait or ask Molly. And since you are being so kind I will write Miss Granger personally asking for her assistance. No further conditions needed."

"How magnanimous of you. If Miss Vane is looking for me, tell her I died. If it is Draco, tell him where I am and that I will meet him back at his family Manor later on tonight."

"No problem Severus. Happy hunting."

And with that Minerva watched Severus walk to her fire place and floo to the Burrows. Right behind her she could hear the soft chuckling coming from her long time friend's portrait.

"I have to say Minerva," Albus Dumbledore said, "I have a feeling this will turn out to be quite amusing."

"What do you know Albus?"

"Oh, something I was able to pick up on after Miss Granger's second year."

"And what would that be?"

"Simply stating the muggle quote, 'I guess you will have to watch and see'"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters and world all belong to J.K. Rowling.

Please Read and Review. If you love it great, if there is something wrong please tell me, and if you hate it I respect your view point.

"Hmmm...I think a pinch should do the trick and the stew should be ready in time for when Arthur comes home", Molly Weasley said quietly to herself. "Now I think the pie should only need a few more minutes before-"

CRASH!

"What in the world!"

Molly quickly rushed to the sitting room where the crash had originated from and came upon an unexpected sight. There before her was Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley crumpled together in a mess of limbs, on the floor before the floo covered in soot. Molly could not help but feel her mouth drop at the very sight.

"Ow! Get off me Harry!"

"I would if Ron would move his fat arse!"

"Oi! My arse is not fat so you can just shut you mouth, Harry!"

"Who's brillant idea was it to come through the floo together!?"

"I wouldn't talk 'Mione. We weren't the ones who decided to piss off both Snape and Vane. This is all your fault!"

"Quick, we need to get out of this mess and run. Snape should be on his way."

"I would if Ron moved his arse."

"Oi, lay off my arse! Now Hermione if you could just-"

"RONALD WEASLEY, HERMIONE GRANGER, HARRY POTTER! WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE!? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO POOR SEVERUS!?"

At that point all three member of the Golden Trio stop their motions of trying to break free from one another and slowly looked up. The sight before them was scary. Their before them was a furious Molly Weasley with her hands firmly on her hip and her eyes glaring accusedly at the three of them.

It didn't take long for Ron, Harry, and Hermione to dislodge themselves from one another and line themselves up before Mrs. Weasley with their heads down.

"Now, is anyone planning to answer my question? What is going on here?"

The Trio couldn't help but look at one another, trying to decide who was going to be the first to receive the matriarch's scolding. Finally taking in a deep breath, Ron step forward.

"Hermione did it. It was all her fault. She was the one to anger Snape. I don't even know what she did.", Ron said quickly as he was pointing an accusing finger at his friend.

"Ron! Whatever happened to sticking together!?", Hermione snapped.

"Well it's the truth. I don't know what you did to the dungeon bat, but he was sure hell bent on getting you when I heard him scream you name. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm sure the git deserves wh-"

"RONALD WEASLEY! How dare you say such things! I know I raised you better then this! Now Hermione, what did you do to poor Severus?, Mrs. Weasley said pointedly to Hermione.

Hermione could not help but cast her head down at Mrs. Weasley glare. She felt like a first year all over again. 'Damn. Molly's going to be mad for sure once she hears what I did. Might as well get it over with.'

Taking in a deep breath Hermione mumbled, "I may have lead Romilda Vane to believe that Snape was planning on getting an engagement ring."

"And when did you do that?", Molly said sternly.

"When she burst in on my meeting with both the Professor and Malfoy.", Hermione mumbled.

"And why would Severus be upset with that?"

"Because Professor Snape was not looking to find a ring, only certain information."

Molly's head was spinning. None of what Hermione was saying was making any sense. Why on earth would Severus be upset with a small incident that she was sure he could fix in a matter of minutes. Who was this Romilda girl anyway? And why on earth did it sound familiar? Molly decided to look to both Harry and Ron for answers, but all she found were two very shocked men. Now what was that all about?

"'Mione, are you out of you mind!? I can't believe you did that to Snape!", Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah, I have to agree. I don't like the greasy git, but even he doesn't deserve that."

"Well, what did you expect? I was angry. That man not only insults me in front of the Potioneers Committee and my boss, but makes statements that cause me to be put under investigation. What would you have done?"

"'Mione", Harry soothed, "I know you're angry with him, but almost anything was better than setting that harpy out on him and you know it. Burn his hair, turn his robes pink, transfigure him into an actual bat, but not set Vane on him."

"That's the strange thing, I didn't set Vane on him, she already had her claws in him to begin with. I think he called me, hoping to get any information on how to get rid of her. The only question is, how did he find out to ask me?"

"Wait, I think I know.", Ron added in. "Sometime ago there was a rumor going around Diagon Alley that Snape was looking into Vane's old victims. Well, at least I thought it was a rumor, but I can now see it was probably true. I bet you ten galleons one of our House mates felt bad for the bloke and told him to come to you."

"You might be right there Ron. To be honest, I'm a little nervous facing her myself after the Nott incident. Hey, does anyone know who tip him off?", Harry asked.

"No one did. And honestly, I don't blame them. After news came out that he was hoping to finish off what the Toad had started with the whole muggle-born registration no one was willing to help him. That's why he had to be submitted into St. Mungos after he found that tin of heart shaped biscuits on his desk.", Hermione said with a smirk.

Ron and Harry couldn't help but to exchange a look. They knew that smirk well and remembered the last time they had ever seen it.

"'Mione," Ron asked tentatively, "do you know something you're not telling us?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Hermione said loftily.

"Because the last time we saw that smirk Marietta Edgecomb face was cursed." Harry depanned.

Hermione couldn't help hide the grin spreading across her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well I'm glad I'm not the only one. Now could the three of you please explain to me what is going on. I'm starting to get a headache." Mrs. Weasley said holding her head. She wouldn't have been surprised if she had whiplash after witnessing the entire exchange.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley" "Sorry Mum" came from the Trio.

"Mrs. Weasley I think we better sit down. This is quite a story and I have a feeling Professor Snape's going to come through here any minute and kill me the moment he sees me, so when I'm finished I can go ahead and give you my last will and testament in the end."

"That will be fine dear. Shall I put the kettle on?"

A resounding "Yes" came from the trio and the small group made their way to the kitchen sat around the battered table as Mrs. Weasley busied herself making tea and setting out a plate of biscuits. Once everyone was situated with a cup of tea, Mrs. Weasley turned to Hermione and asked:

"Hermione dear, could you please expain slowly what is going on and more importantly why Severus is after you."

'Oh, this is going to be a long story. Snape is definitely going to floo in on me any minute now and I am probably going to die.'

Taking in another deep breathe Hermione explained, "I think it will be best if I start at the beginning and work my way up to when we crashed in through the floo. Is that alright Mrs. Weasley?" Molly responded with a slight nod of her head. "Alright. Do you remember when that article in the Daily Prophet about a girl who tried to give Harry a love potions during our time in school?"

"Yes, I do", Mrs. Weasley said darkly. "I wanted to find the little tramp and hex her into the next century."

Hermione flinched at Molly tone and continued, "And do you remember when Ronald was poisoned during our sixth year?"

"Yes, dear." Molly was now puzzled by the line of questioning, but decided to wait patiently for the answer that she was sure to know that would follow.

"Well, Romilda Vane was the one that tried to give Harry the love potion that Ron ended up intercepting. If you remember, Harry had to take Ron to Professor Slughorn for the antidote and that is where he ended getting poisoned."

By the end of the Hermione's statement Molly was seething. Not only had that little tramp try to steal her daughter's soulmate, but she also was the one mainly responsible for her youngest son's near death. She wanted to leave right then and now to hunt the little tramp down, but knew she had to hear the entire story before beginning her hunt.

"Now Hermione I want to know the full reason why this little tart has anything to do with Severus being angry at you. Do not leave out any details and trust me I will know when you are lying."

"Oh, where to begin. Okay, my boss came to see me today saying that I was requested at Hogwarts to offer my expertise on a subject for Professor Snape. I tried to get out of it, offering to allow one of the other experts to take my place, but my boss wouldn't have it. He stated that the letter requested me and only me . My boss took it as a sort of olive branch after the whole investigation incident and told me that I had no choice in the matter."

"Oh, I remember now. You blew up that old tree stump the day you were told their was an investigation put on you about your potion. Arthur had to set you down to convince you not to kill Severus. I thought the matter was settled when he wrote that letter of apology."

"I thought so too, until Minerva was the one to tell me that she was the one to force Professor Snape into writing it."

"How on earth did she do that? Severus after all is a stubborn man.", Molly said musing.

At that point Ron and Harry couldn't contain their laughter. It had been some time since Minerva had relayed the news of the potions professor apology and still they could not help but laugh at the Headmistress creative threat.

"I take it by Harry and Ronald's laughter that Minerva had a hand in Severus's apology?", Molly asked.

"You would be correct." Hermione said. "When news broke out that Professor Snape was the main reason for the investigation she went down to the dungeons and demanded an explanation. Of course Minvera being Minvera she not only got the truth, but demanded a written apology to be issued. You were right, Snape said no so Minvera threatened to transfigure him into a red and gold teddy bear and pass him around all the first year Gryffindors. Minerva told us that Professor Snape handed her the apology within an hour and sulked the rest of the week. Trust me Molly, there was no sincerity in that man's actions. He only wanted to avoid Minerva's wrath and you and I both know that when she issues a threat she follows through. Don't you remember what happened to Lucius Malfoy when he tried to get the Board to cut funding towards the schools quidditch supplies?"

Oh yes, Molly believed she would never forget the sight of Lucius Malfoy transfiguration. It had been well known that since the fall of Voldemort that the Slytherin team had been struggling to win the school Quidditch Cup. Lucius, hoping to give his old house an edge, proposed to the Board of Governors to cut the school funding for new brooms used by students whos families were either to poor to purchase brooms for their children or those who had muggles for parents. Minerva was furious when she heard the news that the issue would be put to vote on the matter. She had demanded that Lucius take the proposal away or else he would feel the effects of being single out in Wizarding World. Lucius had completely ignored Minerva's threat and put the matter to a vote, but before a single hand could be raised Minerva immediately tranfigured the man into a little girl complete with pink frilly dress, bowed pigtails, and lolly. At first appearance one would believe they were in the presence of a seven year old girl, until the little girl opened her mouth and spoke in the voice of a forty-nine year old man. To say Lucius was furious was an understatement. He immediately demanded that he be changed back in to his normal self, but Minerva outright refused. The spell she had cast over the man now turned little girl would last seven days and if he had planned to cross her again even longer. Upon seeing Minerva in action the Board of Governors voted to dismiss Lucius Malfoy's proposal and voted silently amongst themselves to never piss off the Headmistress again.

Lucius Malfoy became front page news in the Daily Prophet. Somehow a lucky photographer was able to get a rare photo of the man/little girl before he went into hiding. Once the spell had worn off the Board voted that Lucius be dismissed from school voting for at least two months and once he had returned he made sure not to invoke the Headmistress's wrath again.

Coming back to the present, Molly nodded for Hermione to continue her tale.

"Well as you can already guess I was very angry to be summoned by that man and wanted to go down to Hogwarts and hex that man within an inch of his life. Of course, Harry and Ronald occompanied me as a safety precaution."

"Dear, I don't think the man would have hurt you. After all, he was the one to request you."

"Oh, the safety wasn't for me, it was for him. Anyways, we arrived at Hogwarts via Minerva's floo and I made my way down to the dungeon while Harry and Ron decided to stay and catch up with the latest Hogwarts gossip."

"Hey! We did not gossip! You make us sound like chatty little girls!", Ron all but screamed.

"That's because you sounded like chatty little girls! Honestly, who starts a conversation with, 'So Minerva, what's the latest scandel?' and says things like 'He didn't', 'Oh, really!' and 'I can't believe it'?, Hermione mocked. "You know I should call both your wives down and recall the conversation you had with Minerva and I bet you fifty galleons both would say you sounded like chatty little girls."

Harry huffed once Hermione had finished her statement and knew there was some truth behind it, but he wouldn't admit to it. "Get on with the story Hermione. We're not the one on trial here right now so go on." Harry said.

"Alright fine. Anyways, after I left the trio of gossiping girls," Harry and Ron scowled at the statement, "I marched my way down to the dungeon to give Snape a piece of my mind. Of course, I burst through his classroom door and demanded an explanation. I was a little surprised to find Draco there, but at the moment didn't really care to get an answer as to why he was at the meeting as well. Words were exchanged and before I could receive a solid answer as to why my presence was requested Romilda Vane burst through the door and started chattering about Snape meeting her Mother. It didn't take a rocket scientist-"

"A what?", Molly and Ron said.

"A rocket scientist is an aerospace engineer that deals with the design, construction, and study of the science behind the forces and physical properties of aircraft, rocketships, flying crafts, and spacecrafts." Hermione stated.

Upon seeing Molly and Ron blank expressions Hermione added, "A really smart person." After seeing understanding spread across both their faces Hermione continued her story.

"Where was I? Oh yes, it didn't take a, uh, Merlin himself to see what was going on."

"And that would be?" Molly asked.

"That Romild Vane had set her sights on obtaining Professor Snape as her future husband and was moving heaven and earth to insure it."

"Oh, but if the two were involved wouldn't the idea of a wedding proposal be in the near future for Severus?" Molly asked.

"Well see that's where the back history of Romilda Vane comes in. You see, Romilda is the type of girl who does not take "No" for an answer. You can tell her a hundred times that you are not in a relationship with her and she will think you are just playing coy. She becomes obsessed with the men she is trying to obtain. She has actually driven a few of them insane. Almost everyone in Gryffindor House is afraid of her and makes sure to steer clear away from her."

Molly was shocked upon hearing this news. "Is that why so tried to posion Harry with a love potion?" Molly asked.

"Yes. She had been obsessed with the idea of being Harry Potter's girlfriend since the beginning of our sixth year. She became so desperate that she concotted a plan to sneak a love potion to him in some sweets. That's how Ron intercepted the potion, you know he can never say no to chocolate."

"Hey, I will have you know that I actually can say no to chocolates." Ron said indignantly.

"Was that before or after the love potion?", Harry said with a smirk.

Ron just grumbled and told Hermione to continue on with her explanation.

"Moving on. After what had happened to Ron I confronted Romilda about the whole incident. Needless to say, I can't go into the specifics of what happened after the confrontation, but after that day Romilda made sure to never cross me, Gryffindor House all agreed to an oath to remain silent about her obsessiveness, and she decided to set her sights on other men." Hermione finished.

"I don't understand. I mean, I understand that she is giving Severus unwanted attention but what I don't understand is what information Severus needs from you and why this Vane girl will never cross you."

"That is exactly what I wish to know", a new voice said from behind the group.

Rocket Scientist explanation:  wiki/Rocket_scientist


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, the characters and world all belong to J.K. Rowling.

Please Read and Review. If you love it great, if there is something wrong please tell me, and if you hate it I respect your view-point.

_Previously:_

_"I don't understand. I mean, I understand that she is giving Severus unwanted attention but what I don't understand is what information Severus needs from you and why this Vane girl will never cross you."_

_"That is exactly what I wish to know", a new voice said from behind the group._

Everyone could not help but stare in shock at the newest person to join the group.

"Oh shit", Hermione mumbled staring wide-eyed at the new addition.

"Oh dear", Molly said as she saw the rage in the new additions face.

"I didn't do anything", Harry said as he slowly distanced himself from Hermione.

"Hey Hermione", Ron said, "when Snape kills you can I have your car? I always wanted one after flying Dad's."

At that moment everyone looked pointedly at Ron and he could not help but shrink back at the glare he was receiving.

"Miss Granger", Severus Snape said in a silky tone that could barely contain his rage, "do you have any idea what you have done?"

"Um, well, I'm beginning to see that I may have just signed my own death warrant, Sir." Hermione replied.

"You would be correct if it were not for the fact I need you alive and whatever information you have in your head that pertains to one Romilda Vane. So you have two options Miss Granger, the first you answer all my questions and get me away from that harlot or I take it from your mind and curse you into the next century!" Severus said with barely suppressed rage. "Now which do you choose?"

"It's not like you didn't have it coming.", Hermione replied.

"Miss Granger, answer the damn question or I will make your dealings with the Dark Lord look like a tea party. Now answer me!", Severus shouted.

It was in that moment Hermione became afraid and realized that maybe her plan of revenge had not been well thought out in the beginning. 'Well what can I do? Obviously I have to help the Great Snake or else Ron will get my car' Hermione thought.

"Alright, I'll help you. But I will tell you that both my help and information may be limited in certain areas."

"Miss Granger, I don't think you understand the severity of what you have done. You no longer have a say in whether or not your help will be 'limited' as you put it. You will help me with no complaints and you will rid me of that harpy as soon as possible! Do I make myself clear!", Severus screamed.

That had been the wrong thing to say to Hermione. Rage poured from the young witch and it took all her control not to reach across the table and slap the potions master. No one talk to her like that!

"Oh no I will not!", Hermione screamed back. "I don't know what you have done to catch her attention and frankly I don't give a rats arse I will tell you this right now Severus Snape you will take whatever advise I give you and you can take your threats and shove them up your arse! Don't you dare threaten me you Great Bat! You know just as well as I do you had my revenge coming after what you did to me! So YOU have to choose, either shut the hell up and listen to what I have to say about that bitch or leave! Choose!"

Severus Snape could not help but stare at the woman before him. Gone was the imagine of a hand raising, annoying little know-it-all and replaced with the image of a strong, fiery young woman. Severus could not help but be impressed with the young woman's declaration and courage for she had been one of the very few to stand up to him. 'Hmmm', Severus thought, 'Granger certainly has blossomed into a beautiful woman. All that fire and intelligence. It's ashame that such a woman could be so insufferable.' Seeing that the two were in a stall mate, Severus conceded. After all, he did need the woman alive and he quickly made a note that after her task was done there would certainly be hell to pay. Making up his mind.

"Alright Granger, I agree to your demands. Now tell me what you know about Vane. How do I rid myself of her?", Severus asked. It was at that point Severus took a seat at the batter kitchen table right in front of Hermione to discuss the details of his problem. 'No reason why I shouldn't be comfortable', the potion master thought.

Hermione watched Professor Snape's movements with some caution. She knew that at any moment the man was likely to strike and at that thought it made wary of giving any information she had towards him. 'I have to make some conditions', Hermione thought. "Before I tell you anything I have some conditions. First you will give a wand oath stating that after I help you out of your Vane situation you will not seek any sort of revenge against me once my task has been completed. And then, I want another wand oath from you stating that you will not take any sort of revenge against me for any past indescretions", Hermione stated.

"Such as", Severus drawled.

"You will not take revenge on me for being a hand raising, insufferable know-it-all, for being an annoyance to you all seven years while I was a student at school, for setting your robes on fire during Harry's first quidditch match", "That was you!?", Snape roared. "Yes, may I continue?", Hermione said. Upon seeing a confirmative nod Hermione went on with her conditions, "you will not hold my petrification against me or me stealing potions ingredients from your private stores."

"That was you? I knew you were the one to brew the polyjuice, but I thought Potter or Weasley were the ones responsible for the theft", Severus said in surprise.

"Nope, all me."

"I want to be reimbursed, those were valuable ingredients I had purchased from my own private accounts."

"Sounds fair, how much?", Hermione asked.

"Fifty galleons", Snape deadpanned.

"What!? But boomslang skin alone is worth only ten galleons!", Hermione snapped.

"I might not be able to seek revenge against you, but I can charge for the stolen potion ingredients, my time and service for creating your antidote to your cat problem, and the antidote itself. I believe that is only fair", Severus drawled.

"Fine, I'll an owl you later on in the week with your money. Will that suffice?"

Severus only nodded at the witch's statement and could not help but feel a small satisfaction at finally making the woman pay (literally) for being a thorn in his side.

"Good. Now where was I? Oh yes, you will not take revenge against me for punching Malfoy, for knocking you out while were in the Shrieking Shack, for having you protect us against Remus, for saving Buckbeak and for saving Sirius. I can't think of anything during our fourth, fifth, and sixth year, oh, and you will no longer hold it against me for saving you from Nagini's bite. You already told me what you thought once you regained your voice and I believe you humilating me in front of all the students and teachers at Hogwart sufficient revenge on your part. Do you agree?", Hermione finished.

"Unfortunately, I have no choice but to agree to your demands. I will take the wand oath, however, I do have one question", Severus drawled.

"And that would be Professor?", Hermione said, curious as to what the question might be.

"Why did you save me? Ever since I woke up in the hospital wing and Poppy informed me of your actions I have always wonder why", Severus said softly.

Hermione was taken aback by the question. She had prepared herself for everything else, but not that question. Truth was, she didn't really know the answer herself. She just remembered the moment she saw Snape lying in a pool of blood on the dirty floor of the Shrieking Shack she knew she could not leave him without doing everything in her power to save him.

Taking a breathe, Hermione softly replied, "I just couldn't." Upon seeing the professor's curious look Hermione continued. "The moment I saw you on the floor, close to death, there was this strong pull of protection and I knew I just couldn't let you die. Even after everything you had done to us throughout our years in school and Dumbledore's death, at that moment I forgot everything and just wanted to protect you. I know you probably push it off as me being a foolish, sentimental Gryffindor, but that's the truth. I don't want anything from you and don't expect anything. All I wanted at the moment was to protect you", Hermione finished, looking away from the potion's master.

Severus couldn't help but be taken aback by that answer. He had prepared himself for any response that required repayment of some sort, but not that heart felt answer. At that moment Severus understood the young woman's reasoning. He had felt the same pull himself after the girl had been petrified. It had been such an unbelievable feeling that he had reasoned it dealt more with the young girls age instead who she was. But as time went by he noticed the pull of protection grow stronger. Through the threat of Black and Lupin, to the second challenge during the Tri-Wizard tornament, to the Umbridge's rein as High Inquisitor, through the Department of Mysteries fiasco, and the war against the Dark Lord all he ever felt towards the young Gryffindor, other than annoyance, was a strong feeling of protection. It had confused and infuriated him all at once. So Severus had made a decision after being saved by Granger and that was to keep as much distance as possible between the two of them hoping the feelings would disappear as quickly as they came.

Unfortunately for Severus that had never came. Even at that very moment, though he was furious with the insufferable know-it-all he knew he wouldn't kill her. Stangle her within an inch of her life, yes, but not kill her.

A deafening silence spread across the group. Apparently the other occupants in the room had just been as surprised as Severus to hear Hermione's declaration. Hermione, herself, could not help but blush at her admission and quickly look away from the penetrating stare that the Professor was now giving her.

No one knew what to say or how to move on from the topic, but the tension ran high in the room and everyone remained silent hoping for someone brave enough to break the ice. After sometime had pass Molly decided she couldn't bare the tension anymore and decided to bring everyones mind off Hermione's admission.

"Would everyone like a fresh pot of tea?", Molly asked standing up, grabbing the cold teapot in her wake.

It was what the group needed to break themselves from the deep silence and each individual answered a quick 'yes'. While Molly busied herself in front of the stove Hermione took that moment to speak.

"Um, Professor do I have your wand oath about my conditions?", Hermione asked quietly still not meeting the potions professor's eyes.

"Yes", Severus answered quietly, "you have my wand oath that I will not seek any revenge towards you for the reasons you have listed."

At that moment, Molly returned with a fresh pot of tea and a cup and saucer for the professor to help himself with. That was all that was needed to break Severus from the trance he had on Miss Granger's face and redirected his attention to making himself a well needed cup of tea. Once his tea was to his liking, Severus began to speak:

"Now Miss Granger, what can you tell me about Miss Vane. Why is it that you are the only individual she does not dare cross?"

"For me to answer that, you will need to take another wand oath." Severus was about to yell at the young woman's audacity, but Hermione interupted him. "It's not for myself Professor, it's for another. I'm not trying to gain anything from you, I'm just trying to protect someone I love who would whether forget her dealings with Romilda Vane, instead of being reminded of them."

Severus was about to tell her where she could put her wand oath, but it was Ronald Weasley who interupted him this time.

"Please Professor. I know what's she's about to tell you and I ask you to please take the wand oath. She's not trying to fool you, she really is trying to protect someone, someone I love very deeply and would do anything to make sure that harpy doesn't hurt her again, so please take the oath", Ronald asked beseechingly.

It took a moment to notice the sincerity in the young man's eye and realized that Miss Granger had been telling the truth. Obviously whomever Granger was trying to protect, Weasley was trying to protect as well. Seeing no sign of falsehood, Severus conceded.

"You have my oath, whatever is spoken here today that the person you are trying to protect will remain anonymous and I will do no harm to said person. Will that suffice?", Severus asked.

Breathing a sigh of relief Hermione nodded and decided to begin her tale. "There are reasons why I cannot go into the details of the confrontation I had with Romilda because of an agreement I have with her. However, I can give you the details leading up to the confrontation and a general idea of what occured during the confrontation and give you the advise needed to try and escape her. Is that understandable?"

"It appears that I do not have much of a choice. Proceed", Severus answered.

"Okay, how much did you hear from my conversation with Molly?" Hermione asked.

"Enough to know that you had a confrontation with Miss Vane after Mr Weasley poisoning", Severus replied.

"Great, I don't have to explain that part. Alright, that was not the only time I had a confrontation with Vane. I need you to understand something first before I get back to my second confrontation with Romilda. Okay?" All Severus could do was nod and Hermione proceeded with her explanation. "During the final battle a lot of secrets came out that night. The truth about Albus Dumbledore's death, your true allegiance, the destruction of the horcruxes, and so forth. But what a lot of people don't know was that another truth came out that night that only myself, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Lavender Brown are aware of."

"And that would be Miss Granger?", Severus asked.

"That because of our deep involvement in the war and the sacrifices that we willingly made for both man-kind and wizard-kind, the Fates had decreed to gift us with our soulmates and both Harry and Ronald have already found theirs ."

I know another cliffy and an unusual one as well. I would have continued but couldn't figure out a way how so I had to end the chapter. Please don't be mad! Thanks to all those who have reviewed, added as favs. or are following!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters that the lovely J.K. Rowling has created for us.

This is my first fanfiction. If you like it great, if you see a problem tell me, and if you hate it I respect that. Hope you like it.

"WHAT!?", Mrs. Weasley shrieked upon hearing Hermione's declaration.

"MISS GRANGER, I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH-"

"SHUT UP SEVERUS!", Mrs. Weasley screamed. "You three have some explaining to do! Why did you not tell me or anyone in the family about this!?"

"Molly I want my own answers", Severus said pointedly to the Weasley matriarch.

"And you will get them Severus, but not before I get an explanation as to why I am just now hearing that the three of you have known for five years that you were destined to have soulmates and are just now telling anyone! I know Ginny and Lavender always said that they felt they found their soulmates in the two of you but I didn't believe they meant it literally. EXPLAIN NOW!"

"Mum, calm down. We honestly did have a very good reason not to say anything", Ron said, trying desperately to placid the very angry matriarch.

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down Ronald Weasley. You and I both know that true soulmates are rare in the Wizard World and are celebrated upon discovery. You three have kept that fact to yourselves when our world could have used some good news while we were rebuilding. Why haven't you said anything?"

"Well to begin with there were some rouge Death Eaters still at large", Harry said.

"And both Harry and I wanted to protect the girls while we were all out trying to capture them", Ron finished.

"I understand that you wanted to protect Lavender and Ginny, but that still doesn't answer the question as to why the five of you have kept silent for five years", Molly said still enraged.

"It's because of me", Hermione said with tears in her eyes. "Harry, Ron, Lavender, and Ginny didn't want to reveal the truth until my soulmate was found, and after five years I still haven't."

Molly seemed taken aback by the young girls answer. True she was still angry at the trio, but once she saw the tears running down the young girl's face she immediately became calm.

"Hermione dear, please help me understand how all this happened", Mrs Weasley said softly trying to comfort the distressed young woman whom she considered to be her adopted daughter.

Harry placing a comforting arm around Hermione decided to explain, "It was during the middle of the battle that Ron and I first felt the pool of our soulmates. As you remembered I rushed to the middle of the battle trying to protect Ginny from Bellatrix Lestrange, but you were able to get to her first. Ron's pull was earlier in the battle."

"You see", Harry continued, "it was pure chaos during the entire battle and the three of us were running around trying to find the remaining horcruxes and destroy them. After we had finished off the diadem I began concentrating on Voldemort's thoughts so we could find his snake and kill it. Voldemort's mental defensives were down and I was abled to see that he was in the Shrieking Shack along with Nagini. The three of us made our way to the Whomping Willow to go through the secret passage, right into the Shack. However before we made it we came across Greyback striking down Lavender and was mid-stroke into almost killing her." Molly gasped. She knew that the young girl had been attacked by Greyback but always believed that someone else had saved the young girl. "Once Ron saw what was happening-"

"I lost it Mum", Ron finished. "I immediately tore away from Harry and Hermione and just started throwing every curse I knew at the bastard. I don't know how I did it, but I found myself in a grapple against the beast and pointed my wand into his chest and screamed 'reducto' as loud as I could. The force of the spell blew a hole in the chest of that monster and he immediately dropped dead. After that I raced to Lavender and she was barely breathing." Ron said, tears pouring from his eyes at the memory of his wife. "Hermione was the one who kept her from death. Her and Harry had came over immediately after my battle with Greyback and Hermione began casting spells to try and save my Lavender. After she was done, I...I just couldn't leave her there. Harry and Hermione understood, they told me to take care of her while they went to the shack. That's where we parted ways. I carried Lavender back to the castle to find Madam Promfrey while Harry and Hermione went to take care of the snake. I almost lost my soulmate that night.", Ron finsihed, openingly crying at the memory of his beloved.

Molly was crying at this point. She had never known that her youngest son had been so close to losing the woman he was deeply in love with. The two of them had completed each other perfectly and the very thought of her son missing that brought on a new wave of tears.

Severus eyed the crying group. Though he was irritated at the fact that he was no where closer to finding a solution to his problem, he could not help but hold a small bit of respect for the youngest male Weasley. He had been curious as to how Greyback had been killed. No one had stepped forward to claim the small victory in killing one of the Dark Lord's most fearsome beasts and had to admire Weasley's silence. They all knew that if Weasley had claimed the victory over Greyback he would have had to admit Lavender's attack and from the young man declaration early he was determined to do everything in his power to protect his wife.

But Severus being the typical bastard that he was had no time for tears, only the information needed. Looking pointedly at a softly crying Hermione he drawled, "As much as I hate to ruin everyones trip down memory lane let's get back to the topic at hand. Miss Granger, how on earth does the three of you having a soulmate have anything to do with my problem?"

The tears in Hermione's eyes quickly dried and she could not help but glare at the man. "Fine", Hermione spat, "I will tell you. I'm sorry Ronald, I have to tell him about what happened to Lavender. You know I would never hurt her intentionally and I love her like a sister, don't you?" Ron gave an affirmative nod towards Hermione and quickly turned his head to glare at the Great Bat.

"Thank you, Ronald", Hermione said softly. "Now, since you are so determined to get your answers I'll explain why us having soulmates connects with my confrontation to Vane. As you know Lavender was attacked by Greyback. The bastard had been ruthless on his attack towards her and by the time we had found her she was far closer to death than we had thought. While under Madam Pomfrey care her heart stopped beating for a few minutes before she was brought back to life. Those few minutes were enough for her to receive a vision of sorts. Normally I don't believe in divination, but after what I had witnessed with Ronald's fight with that werewolf it would make even the biggest sceptics believe. Once Lavender awoke, she explained in private to the three of us and Ginny that she had been visited by Albus Dumbledore himself. She said that he was a messager of sorts and while she was in between life and death he began to explain to Lavender that the Fates had been watching all three of our destiny's closely since the moment we were all born. Apparently the three of us were unique. Not only were our life threads intertwine with our soulmates but the three of our threads were intwine together as well. He explained that usually such a phenomenon lead to destruction and war, however what made our situation different was that each strand had worked in perfect harmony with one another. "

"This is all very fascinating Miss Granger, but tell me, what does this have anything to do with Miss Vane?", Severus said impatiently.

"I'm getting there. So will you kindly be quiet?", Hermione said indignantly. Snape gave a short nod and Hermione continued with her tale. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interupted, Harry's, Ron's and my life threads were closely monitored by the very Fates themselves because of our unique connection. Apparently, all three noticed how deeply effected our lives were by that mad man and saw what sacrifices we would have to make to stop him. One of them being our very own soulmates."

Molly could not help but gasp. "Hermione, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if our lives had played out the way they were originally woven Lavender, Ginny, and whoever my soulmate is would be dead."

"How?" Molly could not help but ask.

"Dumbledore explained that when the three of us each became of age that would be the day our soulmates would be revealed. However, the Fates noticed a disturbance of sorts. It was not revealed to us how this would have happened, but once the three of us found our true soulmates Voldemort would find out as well and kill all three of them just to get to us. Dumbledore told Lavender that since the Fates had taken an interest in us and monitor our lives so closely that they became sympathetic to the future we would be left to live and broke the ultimate taboo and decided to interfere as a gift for our sacrifices. They rewove each of our lives and the lives of our soulmates and arranged it so that we would be aware of the bond and who our soulmate was at different times. He said that we were meant to know who are soulmate was when they were in dire distress and that we would run to their aid when needed. That was why Harry ran to Ginny when she was battling Bellatrix and Ron killed Greyback to save Lavender."

"This is all very fascinating, but tell again how does this relate to Miss Vane?", Severus drawled.

"I'm getting there, now shut up! Now, after Dumbledore explained why our soulmate meetings were delayed like they were he also sent back two messages that pertained to me. The first was that my soulmate would be delayed because whomever he was was apparently just as stubborn as I am."

"And we are all scared to find out who that maybe", Harry mumbled.

"And", Hermione stressed looking pointedly at Harry, "the moment Lavender was to awaken she would be faced with a vain opponent hell bent on taking her true love away and that the only way to defeat her opponent was to bury her past with me."

"This is all very interesting, but tell me again how does this have anything to do with my problem?", Severus asked.

"And everyone believes you're an intelligent man", Hermione mumbled. "Think about it Snape, Lavender was to face a 'Vain' opponent", Hermione said making sure to stress on the word 'vain'.

"You mean to tell me that the girl Dumbledore warned Miss Brown about was Romilda Vane herself?", Severus said incredulously.

"Give the man a prize", Hermione shouted. "Yes, during Lavender's few moments of death Dumbledore sent a warning about Vane and it came true. After the war the three of us were painted as war heros and Vane wanted in on the action. Since she failed at getting Harry with the love potion she charged after Ron without any restraint, but he turned her down telling her that his heart belonged to Lavender. Seeing that she couldn't get Ronald with Lavender in the way she went after her."

"What did that bitch do?" Mrs Weasley asked darkly.

"That little piece of work somehow found out that Lavender had been attacked by Greyback and used every insecurity she had againt her. The horrible truth was that Greyback did in fact bite Lavender and we were all afraid at that time that the curse had been transfered since it had only been two days after the full moon when the battle had taken place. Remus and Ronald had been counseling Lavender after her attack. Ron kept reassuring her that nothing would stop his love for her, while Remus talked about common fears about becoming a werewolf. She was doing great until Romilda came along and tore down every ounce of self esteem Lavender had built up. Lavender had come very close to giving Ronald up, until I walked in on the conversation. I immediately silenced the bitch and alerted Ron, Harry and Ginny to Romilda's unwanted presence. Poor Lavender's was in tears by the time I had walked in and started going into hysterics about how she was ruining Ron. It took a week of constant reassurance on Ron's part for for Lavender to believe that he really wanted a future with her."

"What happened with you and Miss Vane?", Severus asked now holding back his own anger towards the Vane girl's actions.

"Like before I challenged Romilda and won using the same strategy I did before, only this time I gave her some very specific orders, conditions and threats at the end of our battle. First, I ordered her to stay away from the Harry, Ron, Ginny, Lavender, and the entire Weasley family. I even told her to stay away from Remus, Tonks, and little Teddy as a just in case. She was also order not to reveal Lavender's attack as well. Then I made a few conditions about her man hunting skills telling her that she was no longer allowed to use love potion or spells to obtain a man and warned her that if she broke any order I gave her or did not abide by my conditions I would make my spell effects permenant. She has since done everything in her power to avoid myself, the Lupins, and the entire Weasley family."

"What strategy did you use against Miss Vane?", Severus asked.

"Yes, well, that's where the limited information comes in along with the limited advise. You see, during my first confrontation with Romilda as me as the victor an agreement had been struck. Gryffindor House was to remain silent about the duel as long as Vane never set her sights on any of the available men in our House and she was to focus all her attention to the men from the other Houses. As for me, I would remain tight lip on the spells that I had used on her as long as she didn't take any revenge out on me and she kept away from Harry which later turned to the entire Lupin and Weasley family. I can only challenge Romilda again if she were to cross any of the lines I've drawn for her and that includes protecting members from my house from her."

"So what you're telling Miss Granger, that I just wasted a great deal of my time on a rather long winded story to find out that the information you can give me about Miss Vane is useless!?" Snape all but shouted.

"You asked why Romilda Vane will not cross me and I told you! Did I not tell you in the beginning that my information would be limited!?" Hermione shouted back.

"Yes, you did", Severus said tightly. "Now Miss Granger, is there any useful information you can give me about how to rid myself of Miss Vane? One that doesn't require a long story."

"Listen Snape, I get that you're not happy with not knowing what spells scare Vane, but I can tell you how to get rid of her without going insane", Hermione replied.

"And how would I do that?", Severus question.

"It's very simple, you either find another object of affection for Vane to latch onto or find yourself a fiance." Hermione stated.

"WHAT!? You mean to tell me that I wasted all my time for two of the most simplest plans that any man with half a brain could construct!"

"Ah, but did the intelligent potion master with a full brain come up with those two simple ideas to begin with?" Hermione shot back at the irate professor.

"Miss Granger, I've changed my mind, I am going to kill you."

"Hold on one moment Snape and listen to what I have to say." Hermione shouted stopping the angry potion professor from rising. "Getting rid of Vane is not that easy. Those two plans, though simple they may sound are far from it. What you need to do is get enough people together to help you. And I don't mean have Malfoy set you up with a first class call girl and wave her under Vane's nose. Or find some idiot who is dumb enough to take her away. No, I mean you either need to find someone far better than you and stupid for that matter or you need to find someone you intend to marry. You also need to come up with a way to get Vane out of the country, that's the only way you will be able to work and I must say that whatever you choose your time will be limited. You need to choose a plan soon because that harpy won't stop until she has you or drives you insane and right now I can tell you're borderline."

"You have no idea", Severus drawled. "I will be taking my leave. Granger I will be in touch, so do not plan on leaving the country anytime soon."

"I won't professor. Oh, by the way, if it's alright with Molly I'll be here for the remainder of the day if you need me. No sense in you trying to track down where I live." Hermione said, smirking in the process.

"And why, Miss Granger, would I need to know this bit of information?"

"Just in case", Hermione said, now barely containing the smiling going across her face.

"Fine", Severus snapped. "Molly, may I use your floo? I don't trust apparating at this point in time."

"That will be fine Severus", Molly said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. Potter, Weasley, Granger." And with that the potions professor rose from the battered old table, walked to the open fireplace and flooed to Malfoy Manor.

"Mum, do you mind if Lavender and I stay for dinner?" Ron asked.

"And would you mind if my family came over for dinner as well?" Harry added.

"Why yes, you know you don't need to ask." Molly said, now confused at the turn of events. She noticed the cheshire like grins spreading across each of the three young adult's faces. 'Oh dear, what's going to happen now?'

Sorry it took so long. I wanted to make sure the explaination was clear and didn't confuse anyone. I know another cliffy. Sorry, please don't be mad. Thanks to all those who reviewed!


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